Fishing Report: Prelog - Croatia – Dream (Trout) Fly Fishing!

If you are reading articles here regularly, you must know that I like saltwater fishing in Croatia, but I also like freshwater!

Trout fishing in Međimurje is especially good. If you have never heard of this area, check it out ...

This is “my” place, place where my parents come from, place where almost all my relatives come from, place where I have been going for more than 30 years, and place where I took my first "fishing steps".

In the past years, when I started fishing more often again, I frequently go there and enjoy the lake, the canal, and all the beautiful surroundings – peace, quiet, birds singing around crystal clear water where trout live in abundance. It’s a dreamy place.

I was waling along the bank of a drainage canal, looked at it and thought: “Sina you have to try this, look at all these fish swimming in front of you”!

The idea was born, and how it went from there, find out below!

First Things First – Fishing License

Finally, the day arrived when everything came together. It was weekend, I packed all my stuff in the car, and I went.

On Friday, when I finished work, I quickly threw everything I needed into the car - my fishing rod for ultra-light fishing, lures that I bought a few days ago in Trofeja – an excellent tackle store in Slovenia, and some camouflage clothes. At least I thought that was proper camouflage. Joža would not agree.

But who is Joža? About him and all the other guys from Međimurje I will tell you later. Let`s get back to the fishing license first.

I bought it on the same day when I arrived, in Panorama Prelog hotel. They sell fishing licenses right at the reception desk. There was a nice young lady who sold it, and I thought to myself when I looked at her: "Oh wow, I would buy a license from you every day”. (Oops: I hope she doesn't read this, hehe)

Next to this hotel, you can also buy a license at fishing club Klen, but somehow it seemed more reliable to me if I drove to the hotel. I’m glad I did haha!

After I got the license, I had dinner and went to bed early, to get some rest for a busy Saturday!

Fly fishing "on Podkova" - Where Time Flows Like Water: (Too) FAST!

I decided to split Saturday into two parts by making the decision to go to the so-called "Podkova" (English: horseshoe) first, and in the afternoon, I will visit the rest of the canal between Mihaljevec and Oporovec.

Based on information I gathered before this trip, I thought that such option was the best possible plane for a given location.

When I arrived at Podkova at 08:00 in the morning, I put my bag with lures and other stuff around my waist and I was ready to go. But the area, which is usually full of anglers, was empty this time. There was only me and one Hungarian guy nearby.

Great, fine, fine - apparently everyone knows I'm coming, and they don't want to bother me!

I casted multiple times, trout were in the water in front of me, we were looking at each other face to face. I tried hiding behind bushes, trees, grass… everything I could think of. I moved slowly… or at least I thought so.

Later in the afternoon Joža told me that my spinners were a loud problem.

I tried with different soft plastics - PowerBait® Power® Nymph that seemed to work perfectly in this location, but they didn't work for me.

Then I went into battle with the masterpieces prepared for me by Simon Urbas and after a few casts I noticed that the first one attracts attention. Phew, I thought, that's it!

I cast, reel in, cast, reel in, and do so countless times and finally a BITE: beautiful trout grabs it, flies out of the water, upstream, and jumps out of the water again. All this was completely new to me, interesting, and it got adrenaline in my veins – it was a great feeling!

And I landed it. A trout, a wonderful fish!

Afterwards I continued to search for fish, offering them everything from wobblers, meps, to mayfly imitations, but it was more than obvious that my lures were not provoking a response. The presentation was not right, and in the afternoon, it turned out that the key to success was somewhere else. Do you want to know where?

Gammarus - the Key to Success!

Continue reading because now it's Joža, Danijel, Karlo and Dino's turn!

When I finished at Podkova, I went home for lunch. Unfortunately, I had to fry a piece of meat and some potatoes because I didn’t have a bucket full of trout as I expected. I drank coffee and my thoughts were already by the water. I was convinced something good can still happen today, that's exactly how I felt.

And it really was like that...

Let's go on. I drove to the Oporovsko Bridge over the canal, parked my car, got out of it and as if someone threw it out of the sky - Joža!

"Are you going fishing?" he asked and of course, the conversation went on.

This man lived in Canada for many years and fly-fished on all the continents of the world. At least that's what he said, and later I realized it was not a joke!

In the next moment, he was already offering me a fly rod, so that he could teach me fly fishing, how to cast properly, and how to catch a trout larger than 50 cm.

At the time, I still took him a little with a bit of doubt, but it turned out that Joža is a real master!

Of course, he is not the only one - Danijel, Karlo, and Dino come quickly after him!

They were more than ready, full of adrenaline. They started assembling rods, showed me their lures, and started dressing up and masking. And then Joža asks me:

"What clothes are you going to change into?"

I was all in green, but that wasn't enough for him. All those guys dressed up so well in camouflage, they even covered their hair!

Joža said: "Did you come here to find girls or fish?”. Wow!

Meanwhile, Karlo and Dino went ahead, and we quickly followed them. As Joža and I were walking along the canal, he explained to me what kind of fish they were catching, where they found them, and shared with me some secrets about this canal.

We were still chatting when he happily said “Look, Karlo already has one!”

It seemed so fast and so simple. Karlo landed the first trout and that’s when I knew that these guys really know what they are talking about!

Joža showed me where to stand and how to cast, but I still had no results. My lures were landing almost on the fish itself, however, they showed no interest.

Danijel was fishing left of me, landing fish after fish. All of them had fly rods, and I was there with my ultra-light spinning rod.

My hand already started hurting from all that casting and reeling and I went to Danijel and asked him if he could give me one of his flies. He immediately gave me one “gammarus” and that was the key to success!

I moved to the position where Joža and Karlo were having a lot of success and I started casting this little miracle in their vicinity. This canal had millions of them in their natural form, at least according to the guys.

And How it All Ended?

Soon after this it started to rain, and the thunders and lightning followed. I concluded that it may not be the best idea to swing my rod around in such conditions. I packed up, said goodbye, and went home!

And what to say after all this? Well, it really took me a long time to get to this canal and fish in it for the first time, but that makes it so awesome!

This place, these people, and this nature fascinate me all over again when I think about it, and this is the place where I recharge my batteries and feel reborn.

And of course, I must not forget to say: "Thank you, guys from Međimurje, you were great!”

You have taught me so much in those two hours. Forums, articles, and videos couldn’t teach me that much in years!

Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, fishing is learned on the water, it is enjoyed on the water, and new friendships are made there!

I wish you good luck and beautiful fishing if you go to my beloved Međimurje.

Conclusion

I am the first one to point out importance of education when it comes to fishing, in form of videos, articles, and books. But the only way to truly master a skill is to head out and turn theory into practice!

You can expect many fun days, fish caught, and beautiful friendships made. Isn’t that what fishing is all about?

Listen to local anglers as they are a fountain of knowledge that can’t be found anywhere else! You can find out about that from my other fishing reports!